adventures in family, faith, and Down syndrome

Lesson #19: Occupational Therapy: No occupation required

by Maggie on October 19, 2014

The most recent addition to Tessa’s therapy regimen is Occupational Therapy (OT). Around six months, we noticed that Tessa wasn’t really engaging her hands. In fact, she spent most of her time with her hands balled up tightly in fists. There was very little reaching for objects and if she actually got hold of something, it was released almost immediately. At her IFSP review, we all agreed that it was time to add weekly OT.

OT focuses more on the fine motor skills required to function. Since starting with Kate, Tessa’s therapist, we have seen great strides in her ability to use her hands. She will reach for toys and play with them. She plays with her toes. When on her belly, she will use her arms to push up. Most of the time when she does that, she has her hands open.

We are still fighting with her left hand. She has a tendency to keep a couple of her fingers curled up when she’s pushing up onto hands and knees. She grabs more frequently with her right, using her left to stabilize her body. In therapy, we work a lot with engaging the left. Her issues are small, but on the radar.

OT is one of the therapies that Tessa gets at daycare, so I don’t have a lot of info about what a session might look like. However, Kate sends me detailed notes so that I can see how she did. Right now, just like in PT, we are working on sitting and playing with objects. We have to get Tessa to build strength in her core so that she can stop counting on her hands for stabilization. Kate puts her in a lot of different positions (belly, knees/hands, sitting, etc) and then uses different toys to motivate Tessa to reach for them. We’re also working on getting Tessa to hold her own bottle.

OT, PT, and Speech are once a week for an hour. The last therapy, saved for tomorrow, is Developmental Therapy. More on that tomorrow!

Sitting at 6 months (see the hands?!)

Sitting now… Progress! (Also, the only happy Bears fan in the USA today)